What do your team do when things go wrong?
Not just the technical process, but emotionally, behaviourally, culturally.
Do they freeze? Panic? Blame? Go silent?
Or do they steady themselves, and respond with clarity and calm?
In fast-moving teams, adversity is inevitable. A deal falls through. A goal gets missed. A leader exits. A product launch fails. You can’t always stop the storm from coming, but you can prepare your team to face it together.
That’s what Steady in the Storm is for.
What is it?
Steady in the Storm is a simple, practical team activity designed to help people:
- Visualise and prepare for difficult moments
- Talk openly about how they respond under pressure
- Define the kind of team they want to be in adversity
- Build confidence and shared tools for staying grounded when things go wrong
Objective
To help your team mentally and practically prepare for moments of adversity so that when the pressure hits, you’ve already agreed how you want to respond together.
It’s about readiness, not risk.
Confidence, not control.
And building team culture that holds in hard times.
How to Run It: Step-by-Step
Total time: 45–60 minutes
Ideal for in-person team meetings, offsites, or retrospectives. Works for any team from sales to service, technical to marketing.
1. Set the Scene (5 mins)
“Today’s not about imagining everything that could go wrong. It’s about building strength by deciding who we want to be when tough moments show up.”
Explain that this isn’t about fear or drama, it’s about preparation and confidence.
2. Imagine the Storm (10 mins)
In small groups (2–4 people), ask:
“What’s a realistic storm this team might face?”
It could be:
- A major deal falls through
- A restructure lands
- A deadline gets missed publicly
- A bad internal conflict
- A product failure
Ask each group to choose one storm to work with.
3. In the Moment (10–15 mins)
Ask each group to explore:
“What would that moment feel like in this team?”
Prompts:
- What emotions might come up?
- What behaviours might we see? (panic, silence, blame, self-protection?)
- What impact could it have on how we work together?
Capture the raw human stuff. That’s what this exercise is about.
4. Choosing Our Response (15 mins)
Now shift the focus:
“In that moment, how would we want to respond?”
Prompts:
- What would “steady” look like?
- What behaviours or actions would help us stay grounded?
- What could we agree now, that would help us later?
Encourage realism and honesty. This isn’t about being perfect. It’s about having a shared plan.
5. Create Your Steady Plan (5–10 mins)
Each group creates a short, clear “Steady Plan” for their scenario.
Examples:
- “If we lose a key customer, we’ll take 24 hours before we react publicly.”
- “If our launch fails, we’ll meet face-to-face and review with learning, not blame.”
- “When the pressure’s high, we check in as humans before diving into the work.”
They can write it, sketch it, or turn it into a simple team mantra like:
“Breathe. Talk. Learn. Move.”
6. Share Back & Close (5 mins)
Invite each team to briefly present their plan or mantra.
Then wrap up by reminding them:
“Resilience isn’t about being unshakeable. It’s about being ready. You’ve now created language, actions and anchors you can use the next time something hard shows up, and it will.”
💡 Final Thought
You can’t always predict the next challenge. But you can make sure your team aren’t meeting it for the first time when it hits.
Run this session before you need it. That’s what steady looks like.
